6 weeks ago, I was wondering what was happening to my orchid plant. A bit of background info: i have very little experience with orchids and growing plants in general. So to me, this little plant looked dry and dead (picture on the left). Looking at it, I contemplated throwing it in the bin because to my untrained eye, the plant was simply done.

However, I followed my gut to keep feeding and watering, just to see what would happen. Two weeks ago, to my surprise and relief, the first sign of a flower appeared. Now it looks beautiful (picture on the right).

I believe that this same principle could apply to life as we know it. You may be reading this and wondering when your efforts towards a particular venture or job would start paying off. You may have sunk in a lot of money, made so many calls…with nothing to show for it.

If you are convinced that you are on the right path, follow your convictions and continue to push and who knows, with time, just like my little orchid, your efforts could pay off.

Now, in hindsight, I can now see that in the picture on the left, there were little bubs which to someone who had more experience with plants, would have meant that the orchid really was not dead (or dying). But, isn’t this the whole point? Sometimes what you see does not necessarily reflect reality.

If you enjoyed reading this, and you know someone who may benefit from reading this message, please feel free to share this with them.

On Monday morning, a dear friend of mine sent me a message that resonated with me. I excitedly asked him if he wrote the message and he revealed to me that even though he would like to be able to take credit for the writing, it was written by one of his colleagues, Tunji Shittu.

I hope this message touches you as it did me.
See below:

Think about looking in a mirror. How many of us get depressed when we notice a new gray hair or a new wrinkle in our forehead? Now, take a moment to think about what you can’t see in a mirror…are you allowing wrinkles to appear in your soul?

There are many ways that this can happen from worrying too much, to not pursuing a life of purpose.

One of the most common ways to wrinkle the soul is to give up enthusiasm. We should always try to show and feel enthusiasm for whatever we do. Sometimes this is difficult…we might not like our job or we might be having difficulties in our personal lives.

When there is a bump in the road, one of the easiest ways to get back on track is to show and feel enthusiasm and gratitude for what we do have, knowing that whatever show gratitude for, multiplies with time.